Camera advice needed

[JanH]

DS1 needs a good basic camera - up to £100 - having just had his latest disposable camera pictures returned mostly blank because the flash didn't work!

All suggestions gratefully received.

bump - where are all the camera buffs this morning?

Hello sweetie I think you can get Kodak Easyshare digital ones for that- Ds has one and they're pretty good.

How old is DS1, Jan?

He's 18 I think

Hallo tamum darling - I shall beetle off and look at the Kodaks forthwith.

He is very nearly 18, GA - practically grownup but never been even slightly interested in cameras, we are the least techy family in the world - he just needs something easy which takes good pics, basically.

This looks alright, doesn't it? I am a camera snob as you know, but they are pretty good and easy to use.

I agree digital is probably the way to go (unless you have strong feelings about film) as you will save a fortune on getting fuzzy or unexposed pictures printed.

I'd suggest going to local Jessops/other camera store and asking about second hand digiatal compact cameras. For regular size prints 3-4 megapixels will be fine and you should be able to pick up something in that range for well under £100 that was originally priced at a lot more and has nothing wrong with it except that people want more and more megapixels.

If he likes to take mostly pictures of people then Fuji digital cameras are a good bet -- they have very good colour reproduction of skin tones.

Ah - can handle a camera with focus then

(I know my son at 5 works best with a fixed focus camera, so did want to check )

If he's used to disposable cameras and is likely to take it places it might get damaged or broken, I'd recommend having a look in places like Tesco or bargain bins in various discount outlets. You can get some great (fairly basic though) cameras with brand names I've never heard of around the £30-40 mark that are great value, and the best thing is that if it gets lost or broken it doesn't really matter.

If he really wants a better make or model, I can really recommend the Canon Powershot series as great cameras, packed with features and good quality lenses and build.

Pixmania do the Canon Powershot A530 for £116 which is a fab price for a great little 5 Megapixel camera. If he didn't want to buy it online, chances are if he printed off the offer and walked into Jessops they'd pricematch for him.

Or if you wanted under £100, then Pixmania also stock the A430 in various different colours at £99 - 4 Megapixels but still a fairly nice spec for the money.

In all cases he will almost certainly need to buy a larger memory card, so do factor that into the budget - cameras are sold with terribly piddly sized cards that are no good for man nor beast.

Hope that's helped

(further to previous message) That Easyshare does look like a good deal, though, and is a lot less faff than looking second hand.

Good point about skintones- I would definitely back Canon over Nikon for that any day, too.

tamum, that Kodak C330 was the one we just looked at before I came back to check! He is quite keen on that one, good reviews - what do we all think about Kingston Technologies memory cards, only £6 odd for 512mb

GA, what do you think of this package with the Canon A530?

Leah, we have a local camera shop which is sort of connected to Jessops and it does have used cameras but I don't like the people there, they always seem too hard-sell - I could send him along though!

oh, but he is very likely to take it to places it might get lost or broken - decisions, decisions.

(He's going on holiday the week after next so he needs something for that - you know that memory card reader thing, can you download pics from the camera onto that and keep it in a safe place so that you have the pics even if you then lose the camera?)

Jan - that looks a really good deal - especially with the case and the 1Gb card. Is now over your price limit of course

I do have to qualify that I've never bought from Pixmania before, but I've heard of them before and nothing bad. They're known as pretty good prices.

Re: the lost or broken thing - it's really tricky isn't it. Does he have cover outside the house via your home insurance at all?

The problem with cameras is, once you get used to one, you soon want something that does something flashier and better - especially with digital as there's more incentive to take pictures (no having to drag the film to the developers and pay out for 30 crap photos). So I think it's worth paying for a few more features than you initially want (as long as you can afford it/are happy not having as "disposable" camera as some of the real bargain basement ones) - just for that expansion factor.

Again - with the pixmania deal, if you're not comfortable buying online - print it out, take it into Jessops, be prepared to do some hard haggling

I went in once enquiring about a Canon S2 (didn't buy in the end due to other reasons) and got a CONSIDERABLE amount knocked off when I mentioned I'd seen it online for a cheaper price without the guy even blinking. I think they're used to it.

I bought my EOS from Pixmania. They were OKish. Some problems with accepting the credit card, but that was sorted. The manual was entirely in French, and I could have done without that really...

We were already thinking about memory card/batteries/case anyway GA, and the package seems good value for those. I'm going to have to lend him the money for it so the budget isn't that strict.

Yes it would be covered by our house insurance - I think! - though we probably have an excess of at least £50 which would mean not worth claiming really and losing pictures would matter more than losing the camera and you can't get those back.

I suppose it might be better to buy the cheaper Kodak now, plus memory card and maybe case - I already have a NiMH charger and some extra batteries he can borrow for his holiday, oh but what about the memory card reader, I'm really intrigued by that!

You don't need a memory card reader - it makes life easier.

The camera will come with a cable you can plug into your PC to take the photos off (or you can take the card straight to the developer and ask for the lot to be printed - it's completely up to you - is obviously cheaper downloading to PC and choosing which ones you prefer - and you can also do clever photo manipulation, email your photos etc).

A card reader means you just pop the card out the camera and plug it in to the reader (I have one built into my laptop) with no wires to faff with - saves leaving the camera on while the photos are taken off). Of course, there's then the added faff of remembering to remove the card from the reader and put it back in your camera.

(You would not BELIEVE the number of times I've been out, gone to take a picture then realised I'd left the card at home in my computer!!!)

The other thing that's worth doing, is popping down to Jessops anyway and getting him to hold all the different models you're thinking of. Check he likes the feel of the camera, whether it's easy to hold, whether the buttons get in the way or are easy to reach and press. Do the menus seem fairly intuitive. Etc.

You really can't beat seeing the camera in the flesh.

Oh is that all it does? It's not a portable downloader? Is this why people have multiple memory cards? (I saw a memory card case advertised somewhere the other day and wondered why you might need one!)

Great idea to go to shop and try - I will do it with him tomorrow (he used to work all day Saturday but has just finished).

Thanks v much for all advice, ladies

Yes - it's cheap storage (although not necessarily durable - it's good to backup to something .. .whether a CD from the developer's shop once they've printed out your photos or on computer and then backups of your hard drive).

Going on holiday can be a pain without adequate picture storage although it does force you to be more choosy about the shots you keep which can also be a good thing, of course

(um the extra memory cards are cheap storage - not the card reader - sorry, re-read and it wasn't very clear)

I got one of these from Aldi for £89 - the picture quality isn't quite as good as the top brands but for the money it's a superb package. It came complete with a carry case. rechargable batteries, recharger, software and a 256MB card. Everything you need to get started. Don't know if they still do them though.

[Oi oi Cheesy ]